LIBRAR^Qf CONFESS. 

Chap.. Copynglit No,. 

ShelLJ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



GERTRUDE HALL 

AUTHOR OF " FAR FROM TO-DAY," " ALLEGRETTO," " FOAM 

OF THE SEA," AND "THE HUNDRED 

AND OTHER STORIES." 






1r 



BOSTON 

LTTTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
1899 

\ 



)CT171898 



,./ 






43723 



Copyright, i8qi), 
By Little, Brown, and Company 

All rights reserved 



TWO COPIES H EC El V ED. 




•ECONO COPV, 



Santbersttg ^rcss 



John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 






TO MY MOTHER 



CONTENTS 



CaAPTER PAGE 

I. A FAIR KING'S-DAUGHTER ONCE POSSESSED . I 
II. THE NIGHT IS BLACK; THE RAIN FALLS, 

FINE 2 

III. I TRY TO FIX MY EYES UPON MY BOOK ... 3 

IV. HOW SHALL WE TELL AN ANGEL 4 

V. THE VINE IS BARELY IN FLOWER 5 

VI. WHEN MAY PAINTS AZURE ALL ABOVE ... 6 
VII. NOT THE GREAT FLOWER-QUEEN WOULD I 

ASK TO BE 7 

Vin. THOUGH TRUE IT BE THESE SPLENDID 

DREAMS OF MINE 8 

IX. THOU BY THE RIVER MUSING 9 

X. IT SETTLES SOFTLY ON YOUR THINGS ... TO 
XI. THE BRAIN IS AS A TREASURE-CHEST ... II 
XII. THE SUN IN THE PINE IS SLEEPING, SLEEP- 
ING 12 

XIII. I LIE AND STARE, I LIE AND STARE .... I3 

XIV. STILL EVER AND AGAIN IT RISES I4 

vii 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGB 

XV. THIS IS THE HARDEST OF MY FATE .... 1 5 

XVI. MY LITTLE CHILD, LOVE THOU THE ROSE . 16 

XVn. AND THEN? — THEN, WHEN THE ROSES . . l^ 
XVIII. A SPACE OF SKY WHERE THE EYES MAY 

FIND 18 

XIX. THE FLOWERS FALL THICK UPON HIS WAY I9 

XX. I SO LOVE LIFE, FOR THE SAKE OF LIFE . . 21 

XXI. SEAS THAT A PALE LIGHT LIES ON ... . 22 
XXII. LAST NIGHT WHEN STARS THEIR SOFTEST 

SHONE 23 

XXIII. FAR BETTER THAN A GREAT GIFT GRANTED . 24 

XXIV. FLIGHTS OF WHITE CLOUD PIGEONS ... 2$ 
XXV, DEARER THAN RUBIES BEADING 27 

XXVI. WHEN I WAS LITTLE I USED TO GAZE ... 28 
XXVIL THEN LEAD ME, FRIEND. HERE IS MY 

HAND 29 

XXVIII. WE TALKED OF LIFE AND DEATH. SHE 

SAID 30 

XXIX. TRULY, SOMETIMES MY HEART, EVEN MINE, 

IS LEAD 32 

XXX. BE GOOD TO ME! IF ALL THE WORLD 

UNITED 33 

XXXI. A LILY GREW BESIDE A POOL 34 

XXXII. AT THE CROSS-ROADS, IN GREEN APRIL . . 35 

viii 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXIII. HOW I SHOULD WEEP WERE I TO PAUSE 

AND THINK 36 

XXXIV. THE WIND HAD BEEN FORETELLING ... 37 

XXXV. "THOU SMELL'sT NOT ILL, THOU OBJECT 

plain" 40 

xxxvi. could i not be the pilgrim 4i 

xxxvii. what will time give for youth we 

LOSE 42 

XXXVIII. LOVE ME OR LOVE ME NOT, YET WHAT 

SHALL HINDER 43 

XXXIX. IS IT THAT AS YOUTH's DREAMS RETREAT . 44 
XL. WHEN COMES THE FEARFUL HOUR THAT I 

MUST DIE 45 

XLI. TO BE A LITTLE CHILD ONCE MORE ... 46 
XLII. WHEN SPRING HAS COME, AND IN YOUR 

FROST-BOUND HEART 47 

XLIII. O FANCIES MINE, O BUTTERFLIES .... 48 
XLIV. HE STANDS WHERE THE WHITE LIGHT 

SHOWERS 49 

XLV. THE SUN LOOKED FROM HIS EVERLASTING 

SKIES 51 

XLVI. life's but A DAY, THEN LET 's BE JOYOUS 53 

XLVII. I KNOW A GARDEN FULL OF ROSES ... 54 

ix 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PACK 

XLVIir. RATHER, O FALCON EYES, THE GLEANER 

SAID 55 

XLIX. OUR EARTH WITH ITS PROUD MOUNTAINS 

DRAPED 56 

L. WHEN AFTER THE LONG DARK STORY . . 59 

LI. O STRIKE THE LYRE IN MINOR KEY .... 61 
LIL WHEN WAYS ARE FOUL WITH TRODDEN 

SNOW 62 

LIII. FLORIST THAT NEVER CLOSES 63 

LIV. SEE IN THE SUN-STEEPED GARDEN-BED . . 64 
LV. MAID, WHEN THOU WALK'sT IN SPRING- 
TIME 65 

LVI. YOU BOLD THING ! THRUSTING 'NEATH THE 

VERY NOSE 66 

LVII. AH, WORSHIPPED ONE, AH, FAITHFUL 

SPRING 68 

LVIII. THY HEART THE DOVE-COTE IS, AND MINE 

THE DOVE 70 

LIX. YOU MAY BE BLUE AND BLUE AND BLUE . . 7 1 
LX. ONE WANTED SO MUCH TO BE GLORIOUS . . 72 
LXI. WELL TO REMEMBER, STANDING IN THE 

LIGHT . . 73 

X 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PACB 

LXII. SLEEP, O marie! LEAN THAT PALE, DROOP- 
ING HEAD 74 

LXIII. SINCE SIR GILFRED, UNFORGIVEN 76 

LXIV. POOR FRA GENTILE, WHEN THE ALMONDS 

BLOOM -j-j 

LXV. SPEAKS THE WIZARD TO HIS MINION ... 78 

LXVI. HOW DREARY LOOKS THE IVIED COT ... 79 



XI 



Age of Fairygold 



A FAIR King's-daughter once possessed 
A bird in whom she took delight ; 

And everything a bird loves best 

She gave this cherished one, but flight! 

It was her joy to smoothe his wings, 

To watch those eyes that wax'd and wan'd, 

To tender him choice offerings 
•And have him feed from her white hand. 

And every day she loved him more . . . 

But when at last she loved him most, 
She opened wide his prison door. 

Content that he to her were lost. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



11 



The night is black ; the rain falls, fine, 

Incessant, vertical. 
I stretch my arm through the dripping vine : 

I like to feel it fall. 

I think of a garden that I know, 

Lying under this quiet rain : 
The quince-tree blossoms vainly glow, 

The tulip 's red in vain. 

One color, petals now with stem, 

One bistre, green and pink ; 
Dear darkened flowers ! I 'm glad for them, 

They thirsted, they can drink. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



III 



I TRY to fix my eyes upon my book, 
But just outside a budding spray 
Flaunts its new leaves as if to say, 
"Look! — look!" 

I trim my pen, I make it fine and neat ; 
There comes a flutter of brown wings, 
A little bird alights and sings, 
" Sweet! — sweet! " 

O little bird, O go away ! be dumb ! 
For I must ponder certain lines ; 
And straight a nodding flower makes signs, 
" Come! — come! " 

O Spring, let me alone! O bird, bloom, beam, 

" I have no time to dream ! " I cry; 
The echo breathes a soft, long sigh, 
" Dream ! — dream ! " 
3 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



IV 

How shall we tell an angel 

From another guest? 
How, from the common worldly herd, 

One of the blest? 

Hint of suppressed halo, 

Rustle of hidden wings, 
"Wafture of heavenly frankincense, — 

Which of these things? 

The old Sphinx smiles so subtly : 

" I give no golden rule, — 
Yet would I warn thee, World : treat well 

Whom thou call'st fool." 



AGE OF FAIRVGOLD 



The vine is barely in flower, 

And it 's only the time for seed — 
But I claim, I ache for, I need, 

My harvest this very hour. 

O Mother, leave saying that thing! 
Does it make life better to bear 
To know that when Autumn is there 

One is sure to weep for the Spring ? 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



VI 

When May paints azure all above, 

And emerald aU underfoot, 

And charms to flower the withered root, 
And warms to passion the staid dove, 
Sing, bard ! of hope, of jo}', of love ! 

But when December saddens o'er 
The land whence birds and leaves are gone, 
When black nights come, and grey days dawn, 
Sing, bard ! sing louder than before, 
Of joy, hope, love ! louder and more! 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



VII 

Not the great flower-queen would I ask to be, 

The splendid rose, in pure blush-color dressed. 
Only a drop of rain that quietly 

In her deep heart might rest. 

Not the cathedral with its carven flowers, 

Its proud proportions, traceries fine and fair, 
One of the humble bells that from the towers 
Gather the flock to prayer. 

Not the high poet whom a Muse has kissed, 

Only some floating perfume, sound, or beam. 
Some faint tint in the fading evening mist 
Might make him pause and dream. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



VIII 

Though true it be these splendid dreams of mine 
Are but as bubbles little children blow, 
And that Fate laughs to see them wax and shine, 
Then holds out her pale finger — and they go : 
One bitter drop falls with a tear-like gleam, — 
Still, dreaming is so sweet! Still, let me dream ! 

Though true, to love may be defined thus : 

To open wide your safe defenceless hall 

To some great guest full-armed and dangerous, 

With power to ravage, to deface it all, 

A cast at dice whether or no he will, — 

Still, loving is so sweet ! Let me love still ! 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



IX 

Thou by the river musing, 
Maid of few summer-tides, 

With dreamy eyes perusing 
Thy looking-glass that glides : 

Somewhere the ship is booming 
"Whose hold thy treasure hides, 

Somewhere the castle looming 
Where thy true love abides. 

Somewhere the wreath is blowing 
To crown thy hair a bride's, 

Somewhere the stout oak growing 
To make thy cofSn sides. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



THE DUST 

It settles softly on your things, 
Impalpable, fine, light, dull, grey: 

Her dingy dust-clout Betty brings 
And singing brushes it away : 

And it 's a queen's robe, once so proud, 
And it 's the moths fed in its fold, 

It 's leaves, and roses, and the shroud 
Wherein an ancient saint was rolled. 

And it is Beauty's golden hair. 
And it is Genius' crown of bay, 

And it is lips once warm and fair 

That kissed in some forgotten May. . 



lO 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XI 

The brain is as a treasure-chest 
"Wherein the hard gold never fails, 

The heart is but a mossy nest 

All full of soft young nightingales. 

My gold I give thee, wear at best 
Upon thy hand, a chill bright ring, 

But let my bird lie in thy breast, 

A nestling, warm, love-hungry thing. 



II 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XII 

The sun in the pine is sleeping, sleeping, 

The drops of resin gleam. . . . 
There 's a mighty wizard with perfumes keeping 

My brain benumbed in a dream ! 

The wind in the pine is rushing, rushing, 
Fine and unfettered and wild. . . . 

There 's a mighty mother imperiously hushing 
Her fretful, uneasy child ! 



12 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XIII 

I LIE and stare, I lie and stare, 

And what I feared seems fast my lot : 
I call thee, and thou comest not, 

I seek thee, and thou art not there. 

Art thou, Sleep, as the worldling is. 
Friends only with the lightsome heart? 
And is it writ thou shalt depart 

All eyelids Care hath marked for his? 

Then go. Less sadly I resign 
Thine offices, O cool and sweet. 
That in the end we still must meet, 

And thou eternally be mine. 



13 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XIV 

Still ever and again it rises, 

Still ever and again! 
The dream that makes one love and hate it, 

So sweet it is and vain : 

How one might seek a fair new country 

Far o'er the water's blue, 
And there amid an unknown people 

Begin one's life anew ! 



14 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XV 

THE RIVAL 

This is the hardest of my fate : 
She 's better whom he doth prefer 

Than I am that he worshipped late, 
As well as so much prettier, 

So much more fortunate ! 

He '11 not repent: oh, you will see, 
She 'U never give him cause to grieve ! 

I dream that he comes back to me. 
Leaving her, — but he '11 never leave ! 

Hopelessly sweet is she. 

So that if in my place she stood, 

She 'd spare to curse him, she 'd forgive ! 

I loathe her, but I know she would — 
And so will I, God, as I live, 

Not she alone is good ! 
15 



AGE OF FAIRVGOLD 



XVI 



My little child, love thou the rose, 

For on her satin stem, 
How good, see now, how fair she shows ! 
By loving fair, good things, one grows 

Perchance somewhat like them. 

Yet, O my little child, love too 

Yon nettle where he stands, 
So spiteful, ugly, harsh to view, — 
Didst thou imagine, dear, the dew 

Fell only on fertile lands ? 

For, little child, a nettle's fate. 

Think, how it must be sad ! 
And how love by the hundredweight 
At best, could scarcely compensate 

For beiug ugly and bad. 

i6 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XVII 

And then? — Then when the roses 
Were ripe, they went to seed. 

And then ? — "Was seen a white sear 
Where once a wound did bleed. 

And then? — After a little 

Hope found she might not stay. 

And then? — Then as the year waned 
The swallows went away. 

And then ? — They laid the hero 

Among forgotten men 
Low in the lone God's-acre, 

Beneath a stone — And then? . . . 



17 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XVIII 

A SPACE of sky where the eyes may find 
No edge in the restful blue, 

A single flower of some sweet kind, 
A memory or two, 

A hope or two, a wish or so, 

A childish trust supreme 
In stars that sway our fates below, — 

And a June day's length to dream. 



i8 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XIX 



The flowers fall thick upon his way ; 

The crowds look at his face 
As one belonging to a race 

Of taller men than they. 

Henceforth a servile world will trim 

Its speech to meet his mood ; 
Henceforth his deeds will all seem good, 

Because they come of him. 

After long impotence, lo ! power ; 

After long strife and strain, 
Dreams of this hour long crushed for vain, 

Behold! he hath his hour. 

The slave that 's ever at his side. 

Noting his absent eye 
Fixed vaguely between earth and sky : 

" His head is light with pride." 
19 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



For once, though, hath the watch-dog erred 
Stranger to flowers and cheers, 

He doth but gaze back through the j^ears, 
And wonder, ' ' Hath she heard ? " 



20 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XX 

I so love life, for the sake of life, 
And breath for the love of breath, 
A song for the splendid sake of song, 
A word for what it saith. 

For no far end, no gain, no pleasure, 
Nor good that comes thereof : 
But measured words just for worded measure 
I love — for the sake of love. 



21 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXI 

Seas that a pale light lies on, 
And clear against the pale 

Horizon, 
A fleeing chalk-white sail. . . . 

Across the sunburnt meadows, 
The fringe of living green 

That shadows 
A rill that sings unseen. . . . 

The brown pond dim and stilly 
Where, anchored safe and deep, 

A lily 
Has shut herself to sleep. . . . 



22 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXII 

Last night when stai-s their softest shone, 
One came to me in dream and said, 
'' Forlorn thy days are, Loving One, 
For I have long been dead. 

" And I who lived so long ago. 
My earthly days, too, were forlorn. 
For thou whom I had cherished so 
Hadst not yet then been born." 



43 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXIII 

Far better than a great gift granted 

Is, to my thought, 
A little gift, not asked, not wanted, 
From one that owes one naught. 

Had I the giving of some great gift, 

It should be spent 
On one with never a hope to lift 
To aught so magnificent. 



24 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXIV 

ROCKING-SONG 

Flights of white cloud pigeons, 
Flocks of white cloud sheep, 

Float o'er the hills of heaven 
And iu its pastures sleep. . . 

Thirteen little linnets 
Lived in one same nest, 

Nor ever asked their mother 
"Which was prettiest. . . . 

Scores of dark-eyed pansies 
Blossomed side by side, 

The butterfly most favored 
One that was cross-eyed. . . , 
25 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

Some say that every cricket 

Plays on a mandolin, 
And that the fine moth miller 

Is not what he has been. . . . 

Come, let us seek together 

The palace of the King, 
There, in the treasure-chamber 

Is such a pretty thing. . . . 

But all around are warders, 

And such stout watch they keep 

No little child can enter — 
Except he be asleep. . . . 

Then close thy pretty eyelids. 
My tender friend, and rest. 

So we shall see the wonders 
In the King's treasure-chest ! . . 



26 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXV 

Dearer than rubies beading 

A Pharaonid's crown, 
A rosy hope by whose light 

To rise and to lie down. 

Even in its soft seceding 

From worlds of dim dream-shine, 
My soul exclaims, " Good-morning, 

Beautiful hope of mine ! " 

On seas of sleep receding, 

Ship almost out of sight! 
My soul sends its last message, 
" Beautiful hope, good-night! " 



27 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXVI 

When I was little I used to gaze 

Where in the deep, dark air 
The white stars used to blink and blaze 
Like friendly, sleepy diamond eyes, 
And wonder what they were. 

And now it has been all explained, 

The mystery of a star, — 
And still with eyelids upward strained 
I stand with my dull knowledge gained 

And wonder what they are. 



28 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXVII 

Then lead me, Friend. Here is my hand, 

Not in dumb resignation lent 
Because Thee one cannot withstand — 

In love. Lord, with complete consent. 

Lead, and I, not as one born blind 

Obeys in sheer necessity, 
But one with muffled eyes designed, 

Will blindly trust myself to Thee. 

Lead. Though the road Thou mak'st me tread 
Bring sweat of anguish to my brow, 

And on the flints my track be red, 
I will not murmur. It is Thou. 

Lead. If we come to the cliff's crest. 
And I hear deep below — O deep ! — 

The torrent's roar, and "Leap ! " Thou say'st, 
I will not question — I will leap. 
29 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXVIII 



We talked of life and death. She said, 
" Whichever of us two first dies 

Shall come back from among the dead 
And teach his friend these mysteries." 

She died last night. And all this day 
I swear that things of every kind 

Are trying, trying to convey 

Some message to my troubled mind. 

I looked up from my tears erewhile : 
That white rose dying in the cup 

Was gazing at me with her smUe, — 
It blushed her blush as I looked up. 

It paled then with an agony 
Of effort to express me aught 

That would, I think, bring peace to me, 
Could I but grasp — But I cannot. 
30 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

And when the wind rose, at my door 
It clamored with a plaintive din, 

Like some poor creature begging sore 
To be let in — I let it in. 

It blew the light out ; round my head 
It whirled, and swiftly in my ear 

Had whispered something ere it fled — 
It had her voice, so low, so dear. 

The looking-glass this livelong day 
Has worn that curious meaning air ; 

I feel it when I look away 

Reflecting things that are not there. 

Now long no breath of wind has stirred, 
Yet bends the lamp-flame as if fanned ; 

The clock says o'er and o'er a word — 
But I, God ! — cannot understand ! 



31 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXIX 

Truly, sometimes my heart, even mine, is lead. 
But no one ever knows that I am sad. 

I dare not tell my woe to those I love 

Lest they be shadowed by the gloom thereof. 

And those that love not me, how should I dare 
To burden them with my despised care? 



32 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXX 

Be good to me ! If all the world united 

Should bend its powers to gird my youth with 
pain, 

Still might I fly to thee, Dear, and be righted — 
But if thou wrong' st me, where shall I complain ? 

I am the dove a random shot surprises. 

That from her flight she droppeth quivering. 

And in the deadly arrow recognizes 

A blood-wet feather — once in her own wing. 



33 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXI 

A LILY grew beside a pool 

Whose depths were dark aud foul enow, 
And cast on it the beautiful 

Reflection of her stainless brow : 

Then loved it, for it seemed to her 
A thing so full of worth and grace 

That turned up to the traveller 
That innocent and tender face. 



34 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXII 

At the cross-roads, in green April, 

Paused the hero doubtfully : 
Up one sunlit road stood Glory 

Smiling 'neath a laurel-tree. 

And the knight cried, "Thou art lovely, 
Thou art all a queen," cried he, 

' ' And thou smilest, and I worship. 
But I will not go to thee. 

" Down yon path where naught allureth 

Bids the call of Chivalry, — 
If at last we are together, 

'T will be thou hast followed me." 



35 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

XXXIII 
MIDNIGHT 

How I should weep were I to pause and thiuk 

Upon my little life, so gone to waste ! 

Fresh, sparkling draught, spilled, that the hot 

sands drink. . . . 
The winds shall dry it, all will be effaced ! . . . 
How I should weep, were I to pause and think ! 

I pause ... I think . . . and tears of anguish 

rise 
Tumultuous from my long subdued breast. . . . 
The barren sands receive them from my eyes. 
And drink them, wasted, wasted like the 

rest! . . . 
I pause, I think, and burning tears arise. . . . 



36 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXIV 

The wind had been foretelling 

Mysteriously that morn 
How, soon, from Earth, the Mother, 

The sweet Spring should be born ; 
And sitting by the river 

From icy fetters freed, 
This is what a faun piped 

Upon his hollow reed. 

He piped : Soft beds of grasses 

Spread out 'neath a blue roof. 
And tepid waters, soothing 

To a tired brown faun's hoof ; 
Broad stretches of warm sunshine, 

With lapses of cool shade, 
And ripening berries making 

Red blots in a green glade. 
37 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

He piped : One glossy cherry 

For each white blossom-star ; 
Long trains of dappled swallows 

Home-flying from afar ; 
And all the brown fauns tuning 

Their pipes for concerts sweet, 
And all the meadows dimpled 

With dancing of nymphs' feet. 

And then : "Wild flowers springing 

Where'er a good seed blows, 
And in the sheltered gardens 

That marvel, the red rose ; 
And singing birdlings building 

Their nests with busy pains, 
And rosy little children 

Fashioning daisy-chains. 

Moreover : Jewels scattered 

Lavishly on the grass ; 
White dew-drops in the lilacs. 

That tremble, shine, and pass ; 
38 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

Winds full of sweet confusion 
With hum and buzz and trUl, 

And lazy white clouds lolling 
Leisurely on the hill. 

The old brown faun sat piping, 

The air was cold and keen, 
And still he piped : A little. 

And all the trees are green ! 
A little ! and the roses 

Break from the thorny spray ! 
For I heard the zephyr saying 

Spring should be born to-day. 



39 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXV 

"Thou smell'st not ill, thou object plain, 
Thou art a small, pretentious grain 
Of amber, I suppose." 
" Nay, my good friend, I am by birth 
A common clod of scentless earth . . . 
But I lived with the Rose." 

{Eastern Aj)ologue.) 



40 



AGE OV FAIRYGOLD 



XXXVI 

Could I not be the pilgrim 
To reach my saiut's abode, 
I would make mj'self the road 
To lead some other pilgrim 
Where my soul's treasure glowed. 

Could not I in the eager van 

Be the stalwart pioneer 

Who points where the way is clear, 

I would be the man who sinks in the swamp. 

And cries to the rest, " Not here! " 



41 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXVII 

"What will Time give for youth we lose, 
For dense bright hair, and lip of rose, 
For flowers wherewith Spring heaps our laps, 
For trust in words, and faith in shows. 
And all the castle-dreams he saps? 

For wealth of hair, and lip of rose, 

For faith in promises and shows, 

For buds of May heaped in your laps, 

What Time will give you? — Ah, who knows? 

. . . Patience, perhaps. 



42 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXVIII 

Love me or love me not, yet wliat shall hinder 
My soul from breathing blessings on thy name? 
Be far less kind, or oh, so little kinder, 
My love will be the same. 

Nor need she care, the Empress great and 
golden, 
When she with sleep her beauty doth restore, 
And dreams, in jealous majesty enfolden, 
What slave lies at her door. 



43 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XXXIX 

Is it that as Youth's dreams retreat 

And quench in gloom their phantom glitter, 

As life becomes not all so sweet 

Death seems not either quite so bitter ? . . . 



44 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XL 

"When comes the fearful hour that I must die, 
Remember, Lord, how merciful I was, — 

I never meant to hurt a thing, — not I, 

The creatures that I spared will plead my cause. 

Then slay me softly, make me not to be 
As I have sometimes seen a drop of light 

Fall from among the still stars silently. 
And cease upon the breathless summer night. 



45 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLI 

To be a little child once more 
And in its dreamless cradle lie, 

To hear a soft voice o'er and o'er 
Refraining, ' ' Bye-low-baby-bye," 

To be a child ! be innocence 

Of all that hath man's heart beguiled. 
Yet know by some mysterious sense 

How good it is to be a child ! 



46 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLII 

When Spring has come, and in your frost-bound 

heart 
Is born with her first sighing o'er the hills 
The longing that so strangely softens it, 
The blind, warm reaching out toward all that lives 
And breathes the tepid ak along with you. 
The dreamy joy in life and j^outh and things 
That swells your aching breast and finds no 

words, — 
Thrice happy, oh, thrice happy still the Earth 
That can express herself in roses, yea. 
Can make the lily tell her inmost thought ! 



47 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLIII 



FANCIES mine, butterflies, 
You seem so fine when high in air, 
I guess you sweet, I dream you fair, 
With foolish following eyes. 

The world, then, must inspect your dyes : 
And so the chase is swift and hot; 
I laugh at length when you are caught. 
Poor flimsy butterflies. 

Alas ! the net has torn your wings ! . . , 
My hand, you are so frail and faint, 
Has brushed off half your pretty paint, 
Small, soft, misused things. 

Arranged with pitiful ado 
In a pretentious little book. 
How different, how tame you look ! — 
And yet I love you, too. 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLIV 

IN THE ART MUSEUM 

He stands where the white light showers, 

In his wonted high recess ; 
The dust has woven a soft veil 

Over his comeliness. 

Beneath the pensive eyebrows 

And lids that never beat, 
The same glance floats forever, 

So sad and solemn-sweet ; 

The same peace seals forever 

The full lips finely curled — 
I 'm come to this his dwelling 

To bring him news of the world; 

4 49 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

" Once more the Spring bath mantled 
With green the lasting hills — 

Hast thou no faint remembrance 
Of daisies and daffodils? 

"Their stems still lengthen sunward 
As when thou wast of us — 

My heart swells with its sorrow 
For thee, Autinous." 



50 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLV 



The Sun looked from his everlasting skies, 
He laughed into my daily-dyiug eyes : 
He said to me, the brutal shining suu, 
"Poor, fretful, hot, rebellious, little one! 

" Thou shalt not find it, yet there shall be truth. 
Thou shalt grow old, but yet there shall be 

youth, 
Thou shalt not do, yet great deeds shall be 

done, — 
Believe me, child, I am an old, old Sun ! 

"Thou mayst go blind, yet fair will bloom the 

Spring, 
Thou mayst not hear them, but the birds will 

sing, 
Thou mayst despair, no less will hope be rife. 
Thou must lie dead, but many will have life. 
51 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

" Thou mayst declare of love : it Is a dream! 
Yet long with love, my love, the Earth, will 

teem — 
Let not thy foolish heart be borne so low, 
Lift up thy heart! Exult that it is so ! " 



52 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLVI 
EASTERN AIRS 



Life 's but a day, then let 's be joyous 
And wisely spend our shining day ; 

There is a boatman shall convoy us 
At eve to shores where all is grey — 

We '11 grieve less that he leaves no toy us 
If we are tired out with play! 



53 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLVII 



II 



I KNOW a garden full of roses, 

Oh, roses of the deepest dye ! 
That on three sides a wall encloses, 

The fourth a river washes by. 
There, face of beauty. Morning Eye ! 

To rest at noontide fain were I, 
Having thy voice between our dozes 

To soothe me with an ancient lie. . 



54 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLVIII 
III 

Rather, O Falcon Eyes, the gleaner said, 
The cloud for curtain to my bed. 
And only what is gleaned for bread. 
And bare feet and bare head, 
Than be a daughter of the great, 
And on a bed inlaid with pearl 
Eat rose-paste from a silver plate — 
And thou the lover of another girl ! 



55 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



XLIX 

AT A WINDOW 

Our earth with its proud mountains draped 
In snow we call eternal, and the time thereof, 
Are unto God as in the sea one tear — 
The things that shall not be escaped 
Is not it, pensive love. 
As if already they were here ? 

Already each in his sealed hermitage 

We lie, that yet were social ! grass above ; 

The story of our lives, so full of things ! 

Abridged to fit one marble page ; 
And yearly twice a kindly person brings 
Brave wreaths for us, in pious pilgrimage. . . 
56 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

Already what was flesh of ours has climbed to 
light 
lu daisies that with round gold eyes 
Stare at our house's sign, no longer white : 
They could not read it, were they human-wise, 
So are the letters filled with moss, 
So have the summer creatures woven webs 
across. . . . 

Already we are trampled to the plain, 
A silent, wind-swept desert ; then, 
The air is shivered with the shouts of men. 
Ploughs scatter us, wheels grind us further down, 
Above us grows the town. . . . 

Dear Heart, these gauds of life, are they so 

dear 
To us, dear Heart, to us . . . already dead ? 
The curious jewel for the ear. 
The flashing fillet for the head ? 
And, treasures that all in their kind excel, 
This fair well-painted fan, this scarf so well 
embroidered? . . . 
57 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

Nay, Love, but the great house itself, builder! so 
well, 
That speaks in every part a master's touch. 

Is it so much ? . . . 
Nay, Love, but everything and everything. 
However pi-ecious, that must surely die 
And with the eyes that looked on it lie mould- 
ering, 
Is it so great it cannot mutely be laid by ? . . . 

Behold ! less will I love them, toys of death, 
But you I will love more, love on and on ! — 
For "Heaven and Earth shall pass," saith One, 

"But not my Word," He saith. 
It is His word that this in you and me 
With which we love shall live eternally. . . . 



58 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



When after the long dark story 
Of desperate wars to wage 
The King shall have come to his heritage 
Of power aud pleasure and glor}^, 

He'll travel back, gold-shodden, 
The steep track to the throne, 
That with bare feet and many a groan 
Of old by him was trodden. 

He '11 say to each least sweet flower 
That lined the rugged way, 
" Thou cheered'st me in my darksome day, 
Be blessed this golden hour ! " 

He '11 pause by the homely briar 
That shielded him in storm : 
" Be blessed, O humble, friendly form 
That shivered the tempest's ire! " 
59 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

His face in its kingly glory 

Shall bend o'er the poor stream's brink : 
" Be blessed, O stream that gav'st me drink 
When I was a pilgrim sorry ! " 

And then to the sharp stones even 
That made the road so hard, 
He'll say, " Sharp stones o'er which I far'd, 
Be blessed ! I have forgiven." 



60 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LI 

STRIKE the lyre in minor key, 
And let sad songs ascend, 

For each man's life is a tragedy - 
The hero dies in the end. 

The nightingale sings in the tree 
Disciple, crouch beneath : 

The nightingale what singeth she 
But songs of love and death? 



6i 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

LII 
THE LASTING ROSE 

I 

"When ways are foul with trodden snow, 
And flaying winds drive through the street, 

And blue-lipped, muflSed people go 

With cautious, cramped, uncertain feet, 

You Bee behind a misted pane 

Great clouds of green and pink and red, 
You enter, and find Spring again, 

Soft air, spoils of a garden-bed : 

"When other ways, with other snows 
Are bad to walk, and harshly free 
Through life's sad locks the bleak wind 
blows . . . 
Turn to the books of poetry. 
62 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LIII 



II 



Florist that never closes! 

Flowers that never fall ! 
But fair unfailing roses 

And lilies sculptural ; 

Geraniums fixed in flaming, 

Consummate violets 
Confirmed in bloom, disclaiming 

Laws of a sun that sets ! 

Undone the clasps ! We greet thee, 
Realm of the lasting rose, 

Blessed poetry ! and cheat thee, 
Cold circumstance, grey prose ! 



63 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LIV 

See in the sun-steeped garden-bed 

How gay the summer rose ! 
And on what long-hushed lip it 's fed 
Nobody knows. 

One laughs with all her pretty teeth, 

So happy ! they suppose, 
And of the heart-break underneath 
Nobody knows. 

Lightly one reads a little song, 

And all the dreaming goes 
To make a ditty twelve lines long 
Nobody knows. 



64 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LV 

Maid, when thou walk'st in Spring-time, 

Cast down chy simple eyes, 
By no means let them follow 

Two wandering butterflies ; 

Ignore all tender nonsense 
The warm wind may suggest, 

Avoid to watch the swallows 
Building their little nest ; 

The sweet seductive roses 

Consider at no price : 
A glowing rose might give thee 

Some ill-advised advice ! 



6S 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LVI 

TO A WEED 

You bold thing ! thrusting 'neath the very nose 
Of her fastidious majesty, the rose, 
Even in the best ordained garden bed, 
Unauthorized, your smiling little head ! 

The gardener, mind ! will come in his big boots, 
And drag you up by your rebellious roots, 
And cast you forth to shrivel in the sun, 
Your daring quelled, your little weed's life done. 

And when the noon cools, and the sun drops 

low. 
He '11 come again with his big wheelbarrow, 
And trundle you — I don't know clearly where, 
But off, outside the dew, the light, the air. 
66 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

Meantime — ah, yes ! the air is very bh;e, 
And gold the light, and diamond the dew, — 
You laugh and courtesy in your worthless way. 
And you are gay, ah, so exceeding gay ! 

You argue in j'^our manner of a weed, 
You did not make yourself grow from a seed, 
You fancy you Ve a claim to standing-room, 
You dream yourself a right to breathe and 
bloom. 

The sun loves you, you think, just as the rose, 
He never scorned you for a weed, — he knows ! 
The green-gold flies rest on you and are glad, 
It 's only cross old gardeners find you bad. 

You know, you weed, I quite agree with you, 
I am a weed myself, and I laugh too, — 
Both, just as long as we can shun his eye. 
Let 's sniff at the old gardener trudging by ! 



67 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LVII 



Ah, worshipped one, ah, faithful Spring ! 
Again you come, again you bring 
That flock of flowers from the fold 
Where warm it slept, while we were cold. 

What shall we say to one so dear, 
Who keeps her promise every year? 
Ah, hear me promise ! and as true 
As you to us, am I to you : 

Ne'er shall you come and as a child 
Sit in the market piping mild, 
With dance suggestion in your glance 
And I not dance — and I not dance ! 

But you the same will always be, 
While ninety Springs will alter me ; 
Yet surely as you come and play, 
So surely will I dance, I say ! 
68 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



There is a strange thing to be seen 
One distant April pink and green : 
Before a young child piping sweet, 
An old child dancing with spent feet. 



69 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LVIII 



Tnr heart the dove-cote is, and mine the dove, 
That still on faithful wing returns at eve, 

And in thy heart, still open to receive, 

Finds rest and long, long tranquil dreams of 
love. . . . 

Thou fearful image ! cease now from my brain ! 
What wilt then thou with me? Show me no 
more 
That storm-blown dove that beats her breast in 
vain 
And bleeds against a blind unanswering 
door! . . . 

For his heart is the dove-cote, mine the dove, 

That still on steadfast wings shall come at eve. 
And in his heart, still wide, wide to receive, 
Shall rest and dream long dreams of happy 
love. 

70 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LIX 

You may be blue and blue aud blue, 

Up there ! blue as you please, 
And boast a sun that smelting low 

Refines you into gold, 
And song-birds may send up to you 

A million melodies ! . . . 
But I know, I know what I know, 
I am not to be consoled. 



V 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LX 

One wanted so much to be glorious ! 

An organ great and sweet ; 
He could be but humbly cheerful, 

An organ of the street ! 
It trundled on, hammering bravely 

Airs not at all sublime : 
"Where'er it chanced, the children danced, 

The grown folk stepped in time. 



72 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LXI 

Well to remember, standing in the light 
Of fortune's smile, so sweet one dreams it 
true ! 

Them that in shadow with the vultures fight, 
Devouring at their hopes, forever new. 

Good to remember, groping in the night 
To find the passage leading from despair, 

Them that afar walk on a sunlit height 

Rejoicing in the prospect, the pure air. . . . 



73 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LXII 

Sleep, O Marie ! Lean that pale, drooping head 

Against this pillow I have smoothed for thee, 
While I will sit and watch beside thy bed, 
Poor, poor Marie! 

The lamp made such a hard glare where it stood, 

I 've shaded it and placed it not so near. 
Now thou hast closed thine eyes, now it is good. 
Shall I sing, dear? 

Once, dear, it came to me, 
Once in the night, 
■ That in his Paradise 
Christ had thought, Christ-wise, 
To make a paradise — 
So, dear, it came to me. 
Once in the night, — 
74 



ACE OF FAIRYCOLD 

Another paradise, 

Not quite so bright, 
But stiller, shadier, 
Just for those wearier 
Poor souls that must prefer 
To His bright Paradise 

One not so bright ! 



75 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LXIII 

STORY-BOOK 

I 

Since Sir Gilfred, unforgiven, 

Spurred his mad steed from her gate, 
Day by day the Lady's song grows 
Louder, lighter; 

And even as its mirth increases. 

In the burnished oval plate 
Day by day the Lady's cheek shows 
Thinner, whiter. 



76 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 



LXIV 



II 



Poor Fra Gentile, when the almonds bloom, 
Stands shuddering in the Spring light, golden 

warm, 
Both hands cramped on his heart to still the 
storm 
Eoused in it by that stealing May perfume. . . . 

Then with wide helpless eyes that cannot see. 
For hours and hours he walks the cloister brown, 
Battling to crush it out, to tread it down, 

That old tormenting, tender memory. 



77 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

LXV 

III 

Speaks the wizard to his minion, 
Nightly, " Fly now without rest, 

Penetrate the distant castle, 
Spy upon the Loveliest ! " 

Through the narrow crystal channel 
Hardly once the sands have run. 

When before his chafing master 
Bows the imp, his errand done. 

' ' Spite of sentinel and watch-dog. 
To the Fair One's bower I crept ; 

In a moonbeam she lay sleeping, — 
She had prayed before she slept. " 

" Teasing fiend ! Accursed spirit ! 

Bringest ever evil news, 
"Whilst the maiden is so minded 

Magic spells I vainly use 1 " 

78 



AGE OF FAIRYGOLD 

LXVI 

IV 

How dreary looks the ivied cot, 

(Yet all is flush with May ! ) 
How sad the little garden plot, 

Since Mary went away. 

At morning to her window-side 

A flock of sparrows comes : 
They wait and wonder, ' ' Where can bide 

That Mary of the crumbs? " 

Below, the poor neglected flowers 

In languid whispers sigh, 
" Where is that Mary of the showers, 

Will she come bye and bye? " 

And every night down in the lane. 
Just past the gate, there stands 

A youth whose face, wet with his pain, 
Is hidden in his hands. 
79 



Allegretto « 



A Volume of Poems. By Gertrude Hall. 
Illustrated by Oliver Herford. Small 4to. 
Cloth, extra, ^1.50. 

Very bright, witty, often charmingly fanciful, and display a keen 
sense of humor. — Boston Home yonrnal. 

Lively and entertaining. The pictures, by Oliver Herford, are very 
good, and add much to one's enjoyment of the volume. — Congregation- 
alist. 



Gertrude Hall's Stories. 



Far From To-Day« 



By Gertrude Hall. i6mo. Cloth, extra, 

^i.oo. 

Contents. Tristiane; Sylvanus; The Sons of Phile- 
mon ; Theodolind; Servirol; Shepherds. 

Gracefully written tales, — tales of long ago. They have an old- 
world mediaeval feeling about them, soft with intervening distance, like 
the light upon some feudal castle wall, seen through the openings of 
the forest. — London Bookseller. 



Foam of the Sea. 



By Gertrude Hall. i6mo. Cloth, extra, 

^i.oo. 

Co>itents. Foam of the Sea; In Eattlereagh 
House; Powers of Darkness; The Late Return- 
ing; The Wanderers; Garden Deadly. 



LITTLE, BROWN, AND CO., Publishers, 

254 Washington Street, Boston. 



OCT 7 1899 



